Repent, or else! That's not what people normally say, but it's often the sense I get from hearing 'you must repent.'
Before I start this thread, a quick question to those who believe we are to repent of our sins either for salvation or in a maintaining of salvation.... Are we to repent of the sins Jesus forgave and God no longer see's or are we repenting of the sins Jesus didn't forgive? I'm confused.
Whenever the subject of repentance comes up, there seems to be a variety of ideas as to what this actually means. I know in my personal life a colleague of mine holds strongly to the idea that to repent is to first recognize your sin (and it's never sin as a whole but usually a specific sin at that moment), then to confess the sin to God before asking to be forgiven that sin. I've heard it described as a change of mind, a change of heart, or a change of action. Some say it's to go from unbelief to belief and others say it's to never sin again. Well, to add to all the confusion I'm going to throw in my two cents.
The subject of repentance has been something I've had to think a lot on lately. As I said, a colleague of mine holds the act of repentance to a very high degree, so it's been on my mind a lot. As well as wanting to have a better grasp of it. Recently, I decided that instead of going to the bible and looking at all the versus that tell us to repent, because we all seem to interpret these differently, I would look at all the versus I could find where God repents. Because, who better than God to set the example, right? In doing so three things started to stand out to me in regards to repenting.
The first thing that became clear was in each instant God either had change of mind or he didn't. He either didn't do what he first said he was going to do or he carried through with what he said he was going to do regardless of the pleas of his prophet.
The second thing that stood out to me was whatever God's decision was, that was it. He never repented a second time over the same situation.
And the third thing that tickled my brain cells was when he repented, it was in place of doing the act, not after doing the act, like my colleague is so fond of preaching.
So, basically it's a change of mind that remains firm, and you do this instead of doing whatever the act is you're repenting of. Sounds simple enough. Except, there's something else that came to mind while trying to wrap my head around this. There are two relationships that are talked about in the bible. Our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbour. And every time I've ever heard repentance being talked about, it was always in reference to our relationship with God, and nothing about our neighbour. This is important because repentance works differently between the two.
In our relationship with God, sin was dealt with by Jesus. He paid the penalty on our behalf, and in doing so cleansed us all in the sight of God. Meaning, God no longer see's our sin. Because he no longer see's our sin, there remains no sin to repent of but one. That sin is our unbelief, Matt 12:31, John 16:8-9. So, the only thing left to repent of is our unbelief with regards to our relationship with God. Which, in practical terms, is going from an unbeliever to a believer. That's it, that's all. We do this only once. To have to do this more than once means you didn't do it in the first place. And, if you're worried you didn't do it in the first place, rest assured, the fact you're worried about it is a good indication you did. Adding any more to this act of repentance is simply moving backwards. Now, I recognize there are versus that appear to suggest otherwise. But, something I've learned over the years is that if a verse seems to contradict what I know to be an underlying truth, then I realize I'm not understanding the verse in the manner the writer intended it to be.
As for our relationship with our neighbour, repentance is likely going to be a daily event. That said, it isn't in the manner my colleague believes. Instead, it's choosing to do differently than what may initially be a sinful act. For example, a driver on the highway decides not to signal and cuts me off. My initial reaction is probably going to be me showing him, in some unpleasant manner, how that made me feel. In this case, me choosing not to do so is me repenting. And I remain firm in my decision. I don't change my mind a moment later and carry through with my initial reaction. That is not repenting. Now, should the exact same scenario happen again a day later, but with someone different, and I have to repent again of the same thing, that's different. It's a different day and a different situation regardless of how similar they may be. And, I would still need to remain firm in my repentance in this situation as well.
Sometimes the strength to repent just isn't in us. It's here that we want to lean on God for his strength. It never disappoints God for us to do this, instead it pleases God. Should you fail and give in to temptation, it happens. This is the real world and you're only human. But suck it up, be an adult, and get on with your life. It never caught God off guard, just you. How about instead of confessing it to God and asking him for forgiveness ("But it makes me feel better." I'm sorry, but what do your feelings have to do with any of it?), you offer up a sacrifice for your sin. Since it seems Jesus's sacrifice wasn't enough for you.
Before I start this thread, a quick question to those who believe we are to repent of our sins either for salvation or in a maintaining of salvation.... Are we to repent of the sins Jesus forgave and God no longer see's or are we repenting of the sins Jesus didn't forgive? I'm confused.
Whenever the subject of repentance comes up, there seems to be a variety of ideas as to what this actually means. I know in my personal life a colleague of mine holds strongly to the idea that to repent is to first recognize your sin (and it's never sin as a whole but usually a specific sin at that moment), then to confess the sin to God before asking to be forgiven that sin. I've heard it described as a change of mind, a change of heart, or a change of action. Some say it's to go from unbelief to belief and others say it's to never sin again. Well, to add to all the confusion I'm going to throw in my two cents.
The subject of repentance has been something I've had to think a lot on lately. As I said, a colleague of mine holds the act of repentance to a very high degree, so it's been on my mind a lot. As well as wanting to have a better grasp of it. Recently, I decided that instead of going to the bible and looking at all the versus that tell us to repent, because we all seem to interpret these differently, I would look at all the versus I could find where God repents. Because, who better than God to set the example, right? In doing so three things started to stand out to me in regards to repenting.
The first thing that became clear was in each instant God either had change of mind or he didn't. He either didn't do what he first said he was going to do or he carried through with what he said he was going to do regardless of the pleas of his prophet.
The second thing that stood out to me was whatever God's decision was, that was it. He never repented a second time over the same situation.
And the third thing that tickled my brain cells was when he repented, it was in place of doing the act, not after doing the act, like my colleague is so fond of preaching.
So, basically it's a change of mind that remains firm, and you do this instead of doing whatever the act is you're repenting of. Sounds simple enough. Except, there's something else that came to mind while trying to wrap my head around this. There are two relationships that are talked about in the bible. Our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbour. And every time I've ever heard repentance being talked about, it was always in reference to our relationship with God, and nothing about our neighbour. This is important because repentance works differently between the two.
In our relationship with God, sin was dealt with by Jesus. He paid the penalty on our behalf, and in doing so cleansed us all in the sight of God. Meaning, God no longer see's our sin. Because he no longer see's our sin, there remains no sin to repent of but one. That sin is our unbelief, Matt 12:31, John 16:8-9. So, the only thing left to repent of is our unbelief with regards to our relationship with God. Which, in practical terms, is going from an unbeliever to a believer. That's it, that's all. We do this only once. To have to do this more than once means you didn't do it in the first place. And, if you're worried you didn't do it in the first place, rest assured, the fact you're worried about it is a good indication you did. Adding any more to this act of repentance is simply moving backwards. Now, I recognize there are versus that appear to suggest otherwise. But, something I've learned over the years is that if a verse seems to contradict what I know to be an underlying truth, then I realize I'm not understanding the verse in the manner the writer intended it to be.
As for our relationship with our neighbour, repentance is likely going to be a daily event. That said, it isn't in the manner my colleague believes. Instead, it's choosing to do differently than what may initially be a sinful act. For example, a driver on the highway decides not to signal and cuts me off. My initial reaction is probably going to be me showing him, in some unpleasant manner, how that made me feel. In this case, me choosing not to do so is me repenting. And I remain firm in my decision. I don't change my mind a moment later and carry through with my initial reaction. That is not repenting. Now, should the exact same scenario happen again a day later, but with someone different, and I have to repent again of the same thing, that's different. It's a different day and a different situation regardless of how similar they may be. And, I would still need to remain firm in my repentance in this situation as well.
Sometimes the strength to repent just isn't in us. It's here that we want to lean on God for his strength. It never disappoints God for us to do this, instead it pleases God. Should you fail and give in to temptation, it happens. This is the real world and you're only human. But suck it up, be an adult, and get on with your life. It never caught God off guard, just you. How about instead of confessing it to God and asking him for forgiveness ("But it makes me feel better." I'm sorry, but what do your feelings have to do with any of it?), you offer up a sacrifice for your sin. Since it seems Jesus's sacrifice wasn't enough for you.